Dozens gather in Ocala to press for prison changes

Austin L. Miller @almillerosb

Saturday

Sep 21, 2019 at 9:40 PMSep 21, 2019 at 9:49 PM

"We're working hard at real reform," said Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orlando.

Three state representatives listened to horrifying stories of abuse, neglect and pain witnessed by former inmates and their family members at the hands of corrections officers at Lowell Correctional Institution at a forum held at an Ocala church on Saturday.

Sitting side-by-side at a table in the Living Hope Community Church, 4817 NE Second Loop, representatives Anna Eskamani, Dianne Hart and Carlos Guillermo Smith heard several speakers demanding that the frequent abuse must end.

"These officers just don't care," said Victoria Scifo, 20, who was released from prison on Friday after spending two years at Lowell.

Like other speakers before her, Scifo said she has seen inmates trade sex for a bar of soap, inmates living among roaches and ants, and guards or supervisors not caring about their welfare. She said that if they or their family members complain they're sent to confinement.

Another former inmate, Nicole Speer, told the more than 70 people gathered that being in solitary confinement was peaceful as she would not have to deal with the constant problems at the dorms. She said she was physically abused for speaking out and vowed not to be silent anymore.

The lawmakers, all Democrats, have been touring Florida prisons. Before showing up at the forum, they visited Lowell for three hours.

Eskamani said the issues she hears are "personal to us" and urged those in attendance to keep them "in the loop."

"We're working hard at real reform," she said.

Hart plans to introduce House Bill 189 in the next legislative session that would enable gain time to reduce prisoners' sentences beyond 85% to 65%. She said that would save $860 million over five years. Those savings, she said, could be used for vocational training, drug treatment and other needs.

Saturday's meeting was organized by Florida Cares and FAMM, a criminal justice reform organization. Their aim was to invite former inmates or the families of inmates to share their experiences, discuss their concerns and offer solutions.

Some solutions presented at the meeting included make officers wear body cameras, placing cameras everywhere in the prisons to catch abuses and having an outside agency monitor the prisons so inmates and corrections officers can report abuse.

Located at 11120 NW Gainesville Road north of Ocala, Lowell CI, an all-female prison, has been in the spotlight for the past year for unruly behavior exhibited by corrections officers and employees.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division met with alleged victims and families and loved ones of inmates at Lowell in Ocala to get their statements about alleged sexual abuse there. During that meeting, government officials said that if their investigation uncovers other allegations, then they might expand their probe, and noted that the investigation would take months. It is still going on.

Corrections officials at the prison have been arrested on suspicion of a wide range of offenses, including sex with an inmate, aggravated battery involving an inmate, and drug trafficking.

This past week, a former trainee was sentenced to two years for sexual misconduct. Also, a food service coordinator was arrested on suspicion of grabbing an inmate's buttocks.

Last month there was the alleged brutal beating of inmate Cheryl Weimar, who because of her injuries is a quadriplegic at Ocala Regional Medical Center.

There have been at least two protests at Lowell in recent weeks, and a third is scheduled for Oct. 19. By then, former inmate Debra Bennett, one of the women fighting for change at Lowell, is confident something will be done about Weimar's case.